


Soulmates

by Jhonni, TartufiBianchi



Category: Hannibal (TV), Hannibal Lecter Series - All Media Types
Genre: Angst, Eventual Smut, Fluff, Hannibal in prison (at first), Hannibal misses his precious Mongoose, Hannigram - Freeform, M/M, Mind Palace, Murder Husbands, Pretty much everything, Rate Will Change, Roleplay, Season 3 Spoilers, Soulmates, Tumblr, all the feelings you can put inside a beating heart and more, ongoing, plato - Freeform, rp between tartufibianchi and lecteronthelam will's blog (acutehypersensitivity), tags will change, the symposium
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-04-12
Updated: 2016-06-27
Packaged: 2018-06-01 21:18:55
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 11
Words: 4,307
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6536659
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Jhonni/pseuds/Jhonni, https://archiveofourown.org/users/TartufiBianchi/pseuds/TartufiBianchi
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>“According to Greek mythology, humans were originally created with four arms, four legs and a head with two faces. Fearing their power, Zeus split them into two separate parts, condemning them to spend their lives in search of their other halves.” </p><p>“…and when one of them meets the other half, the actual half of himself, whether he be a lover of youth or a lover of another sort, the pair are lost in an amazement of love and friendship and intimacy and one will not be out of the other’s sight, as I may say, even for a moment…” </p><p>― Plato, The Symposium</p><p>Hannibal has been incarcerated for three years now. He's been waiting for Will all this time. </p><p>Will he come?</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This is an ongoing (and just started) RP I'm developing with my mutual's Will blog (lecteronthelam is her main).
> 
> Hannibal (me): tartufibianchi  
> Will: acutehypersensitivity
> 
> This chapter is the starter.
> 
> (You can also follow this on tumblr) http://tartufibianchi.tumblr.com/post/142660795061/soulmates-hannigram-au

“ _Will_ ”

His voice was almost a whisper echoing along the hallway. Tall, grand windows every few steps dressed with exquisite fabrics and gold threads creating the most beautiful patterns as they held their forms.

The young man walked ahead of him without turning around. His curls caressed by the afternoon sun that seeped through the curtains.

“ _Will_ ”

He tried again as he sped his pace only to find that Will did the same.

And then he turned his head and looked at him. A pure smile, blue eyes glistening. White pearls shining inside his mouth. He sometimes even got to hear him.

“ _Hannibal_ ”

The same way he had articulated his name when sitting on his bed in Wolf Trap. When he told him he would not be missed by him. When he had said Goodbye.

He stopped and just watched the man disappear into one of the many rooms his mind palace had. After one year of pursuing him through doors and hallways, along the rooms and gardens, he just contented himself with the idea of being able to see Will from a distance.

Of course, that was the first year. Time eventually caught him.

After the first half of the second year ended, he would only see shadows of Will. His beautiful voice had been long lost. Unheard. Eventually he could not manage to fill the rooms with any more music.

Three years had passed now.

If he found Will’s shadow and attempted to follow him he would only lead Hannibal into the most dark and hellish rooms his castle had. Places where he once thought he could get lost forever should he visit them.

Hannibal Lecter had always been a self-sufficient man. He possessed sophisticated tools and the ability to create new ones in order to deal with everything that should present to him.

And now. Yes, now he felt incomplete. As if they had taken something from him. He knew that something was not his freedom.

_Now that I have found you I do not want to walk the earth without you by my side. It would be the end of me._

“ _Will_ ”

 

The bitter taste of the envelope’s glue made his nose wrinkle a little. He closed it with delicate hands and took the pencil between slender fingers. Catching his reflection staring at him from the glass wall his cell had, he slightly smirked and lowered his eyes.

“Bedelia Du Maurier" Hannibal drew with pristine handwriting.

He then wondered if Will had read the letter he had sent warning him about Jack coming to get him again.


	2. Chapter 2

The letter was an invitation. Just as sure as if it had been written on the fine stationery Hannibal kept on his desk. The only thing missing was the RSVP. The doctor was confident enough without it, he supposed.

Will knew he could have run the other way. Theoretically, at least. The blunt truth though dictated otherwise. There was never a question that they’d meet again. The only unknown was when. Now it appeared destiny was imminent.

The clock on the nightstand read 11:46 p.m. For the first time in months, maybe years, Will Graham found himself feeling the cruel void of loneliness. Shifting his feet onto the bed, he sighed into yet another glass of whiskey. 

_Madness_ , he mused, recalling every word. Hannibal had been trying to lure him into madness since the day they met. 

Nearly succeeded too, he allowed, gutting down a long sip.

An arm behind his head, Will stretched back. Eyes facing heaven found no answers on the water-marred ceiling tiles. The question itself was almost beyond his ability to articulate.

Why.

Why did he still think of the man fondly. Why did he care whether Hannibal thought fondly of him. 

_I’m not going to miss you._

A familiar heaviness set in. Still, the scene had to play through. It always had to play through.

_I’m not going to find you. I’m not going to look for you. I don’t want to know where you are or what you do. I don’t want to think about you anymore._

He knew it was a lie then. Enough conviction though might make it true.

_Goodbye, Hannibal._

Even now, Will had to turn away. 

_Breathe_ , he reminded himself, the glass poised at his lips. Whiskey was far too inadequate a form of self-destruction just then.

_You had no choice. You still have no choice._

* * *

10:28 a.m. The time scrawled next to his signature on the register. 

A night of fitful sleep wasn’t what he was hoping for, but in the end it helped prepare him. 

Time to dredge up all the things that the doctor had done to him. The things he set aside in order to see the good in Hannibal Lecter. Wicked things. Evil things that might have left him rotting in prison or worse dead. No Molly. No Walter. No chance, however remote, for a normal life. 

Shoulders squared, he walked slowly down the hallway, the FBI file held loose in his grip. He didn’t need a shield. Or a sword. He didn’t need anything. Right was right. Pushing away the last bit of trepidation, he lifted his chin.

_Madness is waiting._

The steel in his spine ignored the shiver that threatened. Madness could continue to wait. Destiny couldn’t. Entering without a pause as the door was opened, Will stepped into the lion’s den.

“Hello, Doctor Lecter.”


	3. Chapter 3

The vast gardens surrounding his palace were under a thick veil of clouds. Grey plain clouds. Not a slight stripe of sun to give volume to the mental image he was trying to hold in front of his eyes and under his pencil. 

His sketch was plain. Everything had become plain. 

_For shadow to exist there must be light first._

He could see a dark silhouette standing behind the window in one of the rooms  of the first floor. The one with only one object in it. 

On the velvet surface of a dark wall there was a picture framed in gold.  “La Primavera” always resting alone. Every day beautiful and sublime. It was the room Hannibal liked the most and he was exceedingly pleased when he found that it had been so for many years and for different reasons.

 The sky rumbled and he felt heavy inside his chest. 

_No_

_Don’t go._

The dark figure vanished as the rumble was turned into the opening latch of the door behind his glass prison. His focus returned. Eyes hating every part of his drawing. It was perfect. 

The door was closed again, leaving somebody on his side. His nostrils flared at the scent and surprise hit him as the lightning that followed the thunder still reverberating inside his head. 

What he encountered apart from a racing heart was a very dry throat. Raspy. Dead even. 

_When was the last time I really wanted to use my voice?_

A bitter lump was swallowed as his lungs filled once more with _his_ scent. Albeit, like most things, it had changed. Evolved. It was not the first time Will had escaped his grasp and finished evolving elsewhere. Leaving him with the task of knowing him and learning to love him again. 

_That was the easy part._

_Always._

“That’s the same atrocious aftershave you wore in court” 

Turning on his heels must have been the most difficult task he had to accomplish since his arrival three years ago. But also the thing he had desired the most. 

His eyes found the other man’s and he was thankful the glass was there as a shield, even though Will Graham had just taken off his glasses. 

“Hello, Will” His voice was not a voice. It was a breath. Caught inside his chest for a very long time. 


	4. Chapter 4

Wrong. Never so wrong in his whole life. Whatever pretense had allowed Will to believe he was prepared had to be the most sadistic part of his psychology. No matter what showed on his face, there was only one word for what he felt inside.

Devastated.

Somewhere in a dark room a child cried. Desperate for attention. Approval. Love.

Will stood vibrating with Hannibal’s words, the cool stare tearing at what was left of his dignity. 

What cut deepest was that he could have fought harder. Cruel to realize that he was letting it happen. This was where the masochism came in. Some part of him wanted it. Not merely penance. There was a fondness there. Hannibal knew just where to sink his teeth in.

Will wanted to lean into it.

To anyone else, the barb might have seemed adolescent. Beneath someone of Hannibal’s wit. Will heard it for what it was.

_Dance with me, Will._

It was a hand extended just as clearly as the letter was an invitation.

_Do you remember how we used to dance?_

Tongue pressed to the roof of his mouth, Will gave up on trying to breathe, to move. Trapped by the truth threatening to spill out, he tried to unfocus his eyes. To run away from it.

The truth. He wanted to dance.

The lie stood behind him. Broad shoulders cast a shadow to show how small he had become.

The lie was everything else. His carefully constructed life. Hannibal could see right through him. There was no point in trying to hide even if he wanted to. He was right back in his usual seat.

_The grunts and poetry of life._  
_Everything we’ve ever said._  
_Listen._  
_What do you hear?_

_A melody._

His voice was thick when he managed to speak. An octave reserved for deflection. Blue eyes skimmed over the floor, tentative as they reached up. 

There was no anchor. He needed a foothold at least. He needed to try.

“I want you to help me, Doctor Lecter.”


	5. Chapter 5

Hannibal could not remember a time in which he had not been surprised by Will. Always changing the schemes even though they were made for him. He would never cease to amaze Hannibal and that was the most fascinating feeling to experience.

_You came different as I have been expecting you to. I would lie if I said I have not been pooling bitterness inside my chest, ready for your rejection._

He looked at him from dark abandoned orbs. The fire nowhere to be seen. The passion only attempting to wake up and burst any minute. In another time and space Hannibal was taking a step forward, reaching through the circle missing in the glass. Trying to touch Will, hold his hand, touch his warmth. He felt so cold. But he was there. His eyes on his. His _changed_ eyes. 

 _I belong in your ocean. Take me with yo_ u. 

His heart skipped a beat when the faint softness of a violin started to sound in one of the rooms. Music. After all this time. He smiled almost imperceptibly.

_I expected to be rejected by you, my dear boy. Again. And again. Your shadow has spoken to me from the very deep corners of my memory palace._

A few steps and he was standing in front of Will. Only a few inches, glass and layers of clothes, flesh and bones between their beating hearts.

_I wonder if they are beating together._

“Yes, I thought so” He muttered. His voice still not a voice but a raspy instrument trying to sing. 

_You came here to dance with me._

_Then, dance._

_And afterwards, we rest. Together._

Words were sharper than the knives he had guarded for many years. Words could kill and not been aimed at the target unlike guns. Words. Words could set hearts on fire and then crush them with venomous fingers. 

“Are we no longer on a first name basis?” _You came to dance and to play as well, dear boy._ His eyes were sharp now, dark and expectant. 

_The music has started, our time has come._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You can say hello to us on Tumblr:
> 
> Will: [acutehypersensitivity.tumblr](http://acutehypersensitivity.tumblr.com) (Her main is Lecteronthelam)   
> Hannibal: [tartufibianchi.tumblr](http://tartufibianchi.tumblr.com)


	6. Chapter 6

There might have been satisfaction. A swell of pride even. There wasn’t. The disappointment on Hannibal’s face shamed him. Will’s stomach churned, knotting itself.

_The man tried to kill you, Will._

Will stood frozen. Helpless as the voices argued. He had already picked a side. 

_Don’t be a coward. Do what you came to do._

“I’m more comfortable the less personal we are.” 

The words sounded practiced. They were. Hannibal would hear it too. He heard everything.

_**Hannibal.** How would it feel if I said it, Doctor?_

His spine stiffened. No one wants a rag doll for a dance partner. Least of all Hannibal Lecter. 

It was then that Will Graham set foot on the polished wood floor. The music that played wasn’t their song. Not quite. It was stripped down. A few instruments sketched a familiar melody, haunting for its sparseness. It was up to him, to them, to summon the orchestra.

Forcing himself to focus, he held Hannibal’s gaze. Giving back. It was never his intent to lead but there had to be an understanding. The man staring through the glass wasn’t diminished at all by the poverty of his surroundings. If anything, his regal bearing shone brighter. But it wasn’t the squareness of his shoulders that drew Will closer in his mind’s eye. 

Thin cracks etched in the veneer. Will had been there when they broke open. His fingers twitched to touch the scar. 

_I see you. Do you see me?_

He wouldn’t move. Wouldn’t speak. It wasn’t his turn. 

_Does it sting, Hannibal? Come and get me._


	7. Chapter 7

He felt the small dagger biting his skin again. But it was not caused by Will’s rejection but the **need** he had to lie to Hannibal.

_Don’t fool yourself, Will. I know why you are here._

His vision seemed to sharpen as he narrowed his eyes still focused on blue orbs. He tried to maintain his facade but he found that quite difficult as well. There were too many emotions he was not accustomed to feeling. He even sounded resentful inside his head, not like him at all. To not enjoy something like this was absolutely pointless. Petty and banal even. 

_I see you._

Will was ready to dance. Why now? Why like this? What was exactly the trigger that had set Will’s soul on fire once more? 

_For me, Will?_

With a deep breath Hannibal could smell Will’s life now. Dogs, oil, pine. He could smell a feminine fragrance too. A well known body splash he found to be also atrocious.

_Is this your **secret** as well, Will? _

But there was more, of course. There was something else there, something meaning a child was now in Will’s life. 

“I gave you a child if you recall” His voice sounded foreign to him. Barely a voice, it was more of a sigh. A breath. And Will would not answer. Of course, Hannibal did not need an answer. He was not trying to obtain information from those questions, he was just trying to push Will. To make him take his extended hand and start to dance. 

_Enough of this, Hannibal. He will leave you. Again._

“Let me have the file. An hour and we can discuss it like old times” 

The glass, he was not thankful for it now. He needed to touch him, feel him. His warm skin, tingling every time Hannibal ventured and grabbed his hand more than anybody would have dared to. He never resented the touch, not even once had Will Graham taken away his hand. And now this; fifty centimeters of metal separating their hands from touching the same sheets of paper.  

_Madness is waiting. Fifty centimeters of metal preventing madness from reaching out your hand, Will._

_Or is it mine?_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You can say hello to us on Tumblr:
> 
> Will: [acutehypersensitivity.tumblr](http://acutehypersensitivity.tumblr.com) (Her main is Lecteronthelam)  
> Hannibal: [tartufibianchi.tumblr](http://tartufibianchi.tumblr.com)


	8. Chapter 8

A child. Abigail. 

Will’s jaw set. His eyes burned until his vision swam. At least he had the decency not to say her name. 

_Abigail?_

She was right there. On the cot. 

_Don’t look, Will._

His fingers opened and closed. His pulse was too fast. He had already seen enough. Even a second was enough. 

She looked comfortable in the humble space, among the sketches taped on the wall. Cross legged, leaning back easy. A pink stripe was all that was left. No scarf to hide it. 

It had been years. Why now? Why here … with _him_? 

_After every thing he’s done, would you still go to him?_

His own words. Her tone wasn’t accusing. If anything, it was kind. 

Will slowly lifted his eyes. Hannibal’s posture was stiff. The cracks more visible now. Something that could only be called sorrow played on his features. 

_Yes._

A hint of Hannibal’s voice echoed behind his. He wasn’t sure he’d even heard it, until -

_I forgive you, Will._

And just like that Abby was gone. They were alone again.

Will’s breath puffed ragged. He felt fevered. The timing was merciful when Hannibal asked for the file. As if he knew. 

Once again, the music swelled. Richer this time. Dizzying if he allowed it to be. It took a few moments to trust his legs to carry him. One foot in front of the other, he stepped close to the glass.

“Like old times.” A tide of calm came with the words. Dark around the edges. The eye of the storm. 

His fingertips rested on the file in the metal drawer. They both knew that what was inside wasn’t important. Hannibal would toy with him. He would push back, exposing the game. 

A game within the dance. That was the field of play.

Muscles finally unclenched, Will pushed the drawer through. 

“An hour. More if you need it.” 

He could smell him now. Fingers of memory glanced over Will’s skin. A shudder barely contained. His tongue was thick when he tried to swallow, as if he’d forgotten how. 

_You can do this. Say something. Say what you mean._

“I can leave it with you, or - ” 

He knew what would show if he met Hannibal’s eyes. He let it. The man should know what he’d done to him. What he was still doing to him.

“Or I can stay.” He steeled himself like someone about to be whipped. “Your choice, Doctor.”


	9. Chapter 9

Despite the thick and almost transparent wall between them, he could see, hear and smell Will perfectly. Well, he could feel him in every way even if he were blindfolded or reduced in each of his senses.  

Hannibal had allotted a rather significant amount of time remembering everything about Will Graham since the very first day they met.

 _“Eyes are distracting”_ He had barked from behind his glasses with jumpy blue orbs of disquietude.  

_Yes, my dear boy. Look at you now. The only glass between us is my cell limit._

Will had roamed a path of emotions since he entered the room. Hannibal noticed a slight change in his scent, impregnated now with a mix of raw anxiousness. Fear. A hint of anger. And longing was it? Did Will Graham miss him?

_Do you love me, Will?_

He seemed a bit restless as well. A dry constricted throat clicking as he swallowed. But it was not because he wanted to leave. Oh no, Hannibal knew accurately that if the younger man wanted to be somewhere else then he would. No questions asked, of course. No explanation given nor solicited.

“I don’t mind in the slightest if you wish to stay. On the contrary, it will be precisely like old times and I have always enjoyed our time together” A smile that was more eyes than lips hovered over his face for an instant as he looked deep into Will’s.

 _I have always enjoyed everything about you and me. It feels like home._ His eyes meant to say. Sharp as they were, he felt through them also a tinge of longing and fondness. They felt the same. Will and Hannibal existed to be the same because of how different they were in almost every aspect. Opposites. Equally aligned now. Face to face. Back to Back. They completed the circle. They completed each other. One half of what the other was. 

_Limits be damned, I need to touch you._

He ached, willing to give his life for a second to touch that face again. To feel Will’s skin rise in trails of goosebumps wherever he dared to brush his fingers over.

He took the file and turning on his heels he headed towards his desk. Sitting ceremoniously he opened it and read, knowing that Will was probably looking at him from the other side of the room. 

He liked being observed by Will.

Hannibal remembered peaceful afternoons drawing in the gardens of his Mind Palace. Will sitting opposite him, naked and ready. A greek sculpture. A god. Looking at him as Hannibal sketched him.

Of course he wouldn’t need him to be there to draw him to perfection, but he needed him to be there just for the sake of it.

_That was a long time ago_

A long sigh and he was submerged in the ocean of information the file was not even daring to provide.

“This is a very shy boy, Will. I would love to meet him” He lifted his gaze and smiled.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You can say hello to us on Tumblr:
> 
> Will: [acutehypersensitivity.tumblr](http://acutehypersensitivity.tumblr.com) (Her main is Lecteronthelam)  
> Hannibal: [tartufibianchi.tumblr](http://tartufibianchi.tumblr.com)


	10. Chapter 10

Hannibal wasn’t looking through him anymore. The shell of Will’s lie had left the room. He was alone with the man. 

It was alright now. His footing was secure. As steady as it ever got around Hannibal Lecter. 

He wasn’t the only lion in the room. Will Graham had continued to evolve despite himself. Domestic life could never still the currents that underscored all his thoughts. Hannibal was always there. His presence whispering what Will could be if he allowed himself. Together they had opened a door that neither time nor distance could close. 

His feet perched on the edge of a sharp cliff. Will had stood there so long he no longer knew which way was forward and which was back. Light and dark blurred in a continuous stream daring him to catch them. 

When you’ve betrayed everyone, what does betrayal even mean. 

When he looked at the man now, what did he see. All the angles were there. Sharp edges to fling himself upon. But the veil was more transparent. Underneath was a man. A man just like him. Waging the fight of his life. Their destinies were linked. It was the surest thing Will knew. 

Hannibal knew it too. He had been waiting for this exact moment.

Will gave a nod as Hannibal took the file. Mirroring his movements, he crossed to a table where he sat quietly. Observing. Letting his imagination flow.

_What are you thinking about right now, Hannibal? What would you give to read my mind? Wouldn’t if be funny if we were thinking the same thing?_

There it was. The cold sweat. A reaction that visited him any time he dared think of a future without the glass.

Hannibal’s voice roused Will from faraway. A shy boy. Meet him. 

“Would you?” His tone was a bone snapped. Jealousy was a foreign emotion. Disarming enough to make him forget for a moment. It was all in the dance. Hannibal’s smile, his pose, everything screamed provocation. He had jumped at the hook. But he wasn’t caught yet. 

Gathering himself, Will eased back. An assessing gaze flashed. _What are you up to, Hannibal?_ Between the cameras and their customary bobbing and weaving, finding the right words was a task more delicate than surgery. 

“To what end?” He tilted a brow. “Whose benefit would that serve? Are you asking me to help you, Doctor Lecter?”

_Are you asking me, Hannibal?_


	11. Chapter 11

_Yes_

The tone was new and of all the buttons it could press, it focused on one Hannibal was not expecting. At least not coming from Will Graham. 

 **Satisfaction**.

 _Why_?

Was Will Graham jealous? Albeit, the warm light circulating through his body dragged another thing along. Disappointment. 

Was the man still not aware of what he meant to Hannibal? The glass separating them was enough proof of how Hannibal Lecter felt for him. Love could not start to coat the waves of devotion radiating from his heart, spreading in every direction when it came to Will.

“Merely to have conversations" 

He smiled from his seat and closed the file. A few minutes passed and his eyes never left the man on the other side. Then he closed them briefly. He could not help to do it, the violin sounded superb around them. The lovely notes did not seem to mind the room divided in two. Hell and… hell. There was nothing more than hell there. Two sides of the same coin, but they could be _that_ anywhere.

He rose to his feet and approached their limit.

"I really miss those” His eyes jumped into Will’s blue orbs so hastily he felt the electricity through the glass like it would crack it and release him from his confinement. They lingered there and then moved slowly to his mouth. Those perfect plump lips. So many times had Hannibal thought of those perfectly shaped lips. Pressed against his skin. Stretched in a wide smile… He knew for a fact that they could part and kill him. If not for a death sentence of goodbyes then for a wet languid kiss.

_The only conversations I long are ours, my beautiful boy._

“I thought you had come here for  _my_ help” Another step forward as his forgotten smile appeared again. “But if offered, how could I deny yours, my dear Will” His voice a soft purr.

Slender fingers came slowly to the round edge of the hole in the glass. He would have to endure Alana’s reprimand afterwards but it seemed distant and mundane at that moment. His hand caressed the air on the other side as he closed his eyes. Palm resting on the polished surface, in the middle of both hells.

“Listen, Will. Such a wonderful melody” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You can say hello to us on Tumblr:
> 
> Will: [acutehypersensitivity.tumblr](http://acutehypersensitivity.tumblr.com) (Her main is Lecteronthelam)  
> Hannibal: [tartufibianchi.tumblr](http://tartufibianchi.tumblr.com)


End file.
